iPhone 6 spotted in Space Grey

iPhone 6 dummy

iPhone 6 dummy model captured in pictures ahead of official announcement

Apple's iPhone 6 is predicted to be just a few short months away from an official reveal - which means leaks of the much-anticipated handset are beginning to come thick and fast. The latest gives eager Apple fans a first glimpse at the Space Grey version, which is expected to launch alongside Gold and Silver variants when the company finally makes an official announcement.

The images, posted to Seeko.co.kr and the Weibo social network and first spotted by G for Games, appear to show the 4.7in version of the iPhone 6 - not the 5.7in phablet edition that is rumoured to launch alongside the more compact model seen here. The handset, which is believed to be a dummy mockup designed for case manufacturers to test their products rather than a working unit, is shown side-by-side with an iPhone 5s and an HTC One (m8). It provides a clear look at how big the new phone will be, as well as confirming the presence of a side-mounted sleep/wake button in order to accomodate smaller hands with the larger screen.

The back of the handset shows a rear camera lens sitting flush to the chassis, contradicting earlier rumours that the iPhone 6 would have a protruding camera lens to make room for higher quality optics or a larger sensor. The mockup also appears to have rounded, champhered edges, somewhat like the original iPhone, although of course this latest generation model will be made from glass and metal rather than plastic.

Apart from its looks, this latest dummy model leak can't really tell us much about the iPhone 6; we're still relying on rumours to work out what will actually be inside the phone, with a 64-bit Apple A8 processor, TouchID fingerprint sensor, 8-megapixel camera sensor and iOS 8 operating system looking most likely.

Apple is almost certainly set to reveal the iPhone 6 in September, so in the run up to launch we'll be sure to bring you all the details, and further leaks, as we get them.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Win a Panasonic HX-A100 wearable action camcorder

Panasonic HX-A100

Fill out a short survey and get the chance to win

We've teamed up with Panasonic UK to give you the chance to win a brand-new HX-A100 wearable camcorder.

To enter the competition, you just need to fill out the survey on Panasonic's website. The survey is very quick to complete and will help Panasonic develop further action cams. Once you're done, hit submit and you'll be entered into a prize draw, where three lucky winners will get a camcorder.

We reviewed the HX-A100 last year and said that it has some of the most impressive image stabilisation we've seen on an action cam, turning frenetic action into super-smooth footage.

The HX-A100 has a rather unusual design, with a pack-of-cards-sized control box tucking into a pocket out of the way, leaving the small cylinder camera, which you can mount where you need it.

The control box only lets you start and stop recording and you can't preview or watch any recorded video. However, the HX-A100 also has built-in Wi-Fi, so you can connect it to the Android or iOS apps. From here, you can change recording settings, change the type of time-lapse shooting and review shot footage.

You can record video at a resolution of 1,920x1,080 (Full HD) letting you capture tons of detail. You can even rattle off some still photography, if video doesn't quite suit the mood.

Full product specs, terms and conditions for the competition and full information on the survey can be found on Panasonic's website.

Reviews
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Welcome to the new-look Expert Reviews

We've relaunched the site and made it easier to use - tell us what you think

If you've been reading Expert Reviews for a while (and we hope you have been), you've probably noticed that we've changed, rather a lot. While we're big proponents of the ethos that change should be met with fear and/or hate, we're hoping that you kind of like what we've done here.

So, why did we do it? Well, if Stephen Elop felt that Nokia was on a burning platform, it's fair to say that Expert Reviews was on a platform that had been electrocuted, beaten with clubs, set on fire and then kicked for good measure.

As well as being slow to load, slow to respond and full of tiny pictures that didn't show any detail, the old site was inflexible and hard to navigate. Hell, even our writers found it hard to locate content at times.

One of the most important things of any website is reader interaction, but that was something we've been missing for too long. In fact, we haven't had comments turned on for more than a year, as they had to be disabled on the old site due to some complicated old code. Even when they were turned on, the epic sign-up system required you to pretty much divulge your entire life history and personal details, which is hardly the sharing atmosphere we wanted to cultivate.

With all of these issues, the old site needed too much to fix it, so we wanted to start from scratch and bring you something newer and more modern. There's a brand-new nav bar (which actually lets you find the products you're after), bigger images, better specifications pages, clearer text and better performance. We've got a brand-new comments system, too, which you can use by logging in using one of your social media accounts.

A ton of hard work has gone into the site by our amazing development and design teams, and we're dead happy with what we've got. Have we got everything right? Well, probably not, but we'll be working hard over the next few weeks to correct any issues we find. We'll be updating old reviews and articles, too, bringing the most popular old content up to the higher standards that the new site demands.

We also need your help. We only write this site for you and what you think of it is the most important thing. If there's anything you love or hate about the site, or find anything broken, leave us a comment below and we'll look into it.

Comments across the entire site are welcome and it's good to be back talking to everyone again. We hope you enjoy the new site.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Breaking Bad now streaming in 4K for UK Netflix viewers

Breaking Bad

Walter White's meth empire now streaming at UHD resolutions, if you have Netflix and a compatible TV

Netflix is now streaming Breaking Bad in 4K to its UK customers with Ultra High Definition TVs, making it the second big-name TV series to be made available to the public at greater than Full HD resolutions.

Head of Communications for Europe at Netflix Joris Evers made the announcement on Twitter last night, fulfilling a promise made at this year's CES show to bring the popular AMC series to Netflix subscribers in 4K. It joins US government drama House of Cards as two of the only commercially available 4K TV shows, and practically makes it a must-watch for owners of UHD TVs looking for something to watch at native resolution. Currently UHD content is extremely limited, with a few demo reels and YouTube videos being the only alternatives to Netflix 4K streaming.

To watch Breaking Bad in 4K, you'll need an internet connection with at least 15Mbps downstream speeds and a 4K TV with Netflix, as well as a compatible HEVC decoder - meaning Panasonic's AX800 is off the list of supported 4K sets. You'll have to make sure your account is set to stream in the highest quality available, by opening the Netflix smart TV app and going to Account - Playback settings - High. Unfortunately there's currently no way to stream 4K  to a PC, even if you have an Ultra HD monitor connected.

Netflix has pledged to film all of its self-produced content in 4K, meaning Orange is the New Black and Lillyhammer could follow Breaking Bad as UHD streams in 2014 and beyond. Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul is also expected to arrive in 4K when it gets released to subscribers in November.

The company has yet to reveal whether 4K streaming will require paying a higher subscription fee, and is unlikely to make anything official while 4K content is still very much in the minority.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Nest Protect smart smoke detector back on sale

Nest Protect

Nest removes wave to silence feature in response to accidental deactivations

The Nest Protect smoke detector is now available to buy again, more than three months after the company was forced to pull the gadget from shops following safety concerns over its "wave to silence" feature - with prices reduced to make up for the delay.

Nest Labs, the home automation company behind the Nest thermostat, expanded into smoke alarms in October last year, following months of consultation with fire safety and building regulation advisors. The Protect detector connects to your local Wi-Fi network and reports back to your smartphone, warning you with a notification if it detects smoke. A colour-changing LED and spoken word warnings are designed to eliminate the annoying chirps associated with traditional smoke detectors, but one feature proved more of a safety concern than helpful addition.

The "wave to silence" mode, which would deactivate the full alarm by waving your hands in front of the alarm rather than forcing you to reach for a tea towel, could be accidentally activated, causing the alarm to ignore an actual fire. A firmware update disabling the feature was rolled out to existing customers, but as a safety measure all unsold alarms were withdrawn from sale in order to deactivate the feature.

Now the company, which was purchased by Google in January for a massive $3.2 billion, is confident the issue has been resolved and has returned the alarm to its online store. Both the wired and wireless versions of the Nest Protect smoke detector are now available for £89 in black or white colours, some £20 less than the original price - although still as expensive as buying a standard smoke alarm for almost every room in your house.

Although Nest Protect is now available through the official Nest UK website, it has yet to appear in Google's own Play store.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Watch_Dogs cut graphical effects found in PC version files

Ubisoft's open world hacking adventure has unimplemented graphical effects hiding on the PC version, but a mod brings them back

Ubisoft's Watch_Dogs was one of the most talked about games at E3 2013, after an incredible debut trailer gave gamers hope for truly jaw-dropping visuals from their next-generation games. On release, however, it was evident that the game had received several significant graphical downgrades, on PS4, Xbox One and PC, leaving some players disappointed that the developer hadn't lived up to its early promises. Owners of the PC version may finally get to experience what that early demo would be like, however, as code left over from an older, prettier build of the game has been discovered in the files of the PC release.

A user-created mod, posted to the Guru3D forums, now re-enables the cut content, adding effects like bokeh depth of field, shaodws from car headlights, lens flares, rain effects reacting convincingly to light and the bloom effects seen in the 2012 E3 trailer. Developer TheWorse has even manage to squeeze out some performance improvements from the notoriously demanding game engine, to the point that many users are reporting the extra effects barely make a dent in frame rates.

Neogaf users have already experimented with the mod, posting high resolution images, videos and comparisons with the E3 2012 reveal trailer that promised so much. It's still very much a work in progress, with the developer promising more performance improvements and visual artefact fixes as he gets round to making them, but it seemingly transforms Watch_Dogs into a visually stunning PC game - an impressive achievement considering the vanilla game looks pretty damn good as it is.

The big question now is why Ubisoft left this code out of the finished game. Watch_Dogs was already delayed an additional six months in order to get it ready for next-generation consoles, so perhaps the developer didn't have enough time to add graphically intensive effects to the PC version that would ber asking too much from the PS4 or Xbox One. It's possible the company wanted visual parity across all three versions, no neglected adding extra features to the PC version that would make it stand out over the console releases. Ubisoft has declined to comment on the unearthed code so far, but it would appear this is the latest PR disaster for a company still struggling to explain why the next Assassin's Creed game won't have any playable female characters.

In the meantime, owners of the PC version of Watch_Dogs can download version 0.6 of the mod here. It's still in active development, and it is unclear whether this will affect your uPlay standing for playing online, but anyone looking for a graphical upgrade is free to give it a go.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Earin Kickstarts the world’s smallest wireless in-ears

Earin wireless in-ear headphones

Kickstarter campaign looking to raise £180,000 to fund the world's smallest wireless in-ear headphones

Wireless in-ear headphones might be getting progressively smaller, but they all have one thing in common - a wire connecting the two earbuds together. That's not the case with Earin, a new Kickstarter project that is aiming to become the world's smallest pair of wireless in-ears if its creators reach their crowd-funding goal.

The Swedish company's concept is of two earbuds that work together as a single pair of Bluetooth in-ears, with no cables or attachments - making them more like earplugs than a pair of headphones. With no cables, no LED lights and no integrated microphone, the design team has promised Earin will be as minimal as possible. The buds will ship with several pairs of foam tips for the best seal, and include concha locks to ensure the buds stay in your ears, even when exercising or listening on the move.

Using balanced armature drivers and aptX Bluetooth, the Earin buds should be capable of high quality sound, but the engineers have had to home up with a novel way of recharging them without a cable. Instead of adding charging ports to each earbud, Earin will ship with a capsule for topping up the internal batteries. It's small enough to fit on a keyring and has an internal battery that refills the earbuds when stored.

Up to three hours of battery life from each bud doesn't sound like a huge amount, but considering they can recharge every time you pop them back in their case most people should be able to enjoy their music without worrying about running out of juice on the way home from the office. The capsule itself charges over USB, but the Kickstarter page doesn't make it clear how many times you'll be able to top up the earbuds before the capsule runs out of juice.

At the time of writing, Earin had already raised £129,000 of its £179,000 goal, and with 37 days remaining it seems very likely to reach that goal with time to spare. Kickstarter backers are due receive their Earin headphones around January next year, with a full retail price expected at around £159 once the company is ready to open orders to the general public.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Galaxy Note 4 5.7in QHD display confirmed

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 concept render

Expect a 5.7in, 2,560×1,440 resolution QHD AMOLED display on Samsung's next flagship phablet

Samsung is set to officially reveal the Galaxy Note 4 in September at the IFA trade show in Berlin, and has so far managed to do a very good job of keeping the design and specifications a secret from the public, but a slip up on the mobile version of Samsung's own website has revealed a few details ahead of schedule. As previously rumoured, it appears the flagship phablet will indeed launch with a 5.7in, QHD resolution display.

First spotted by Sammobile, a User Agent Profile (UAProf) listing for the AT&T variant of the Note 4, codenamed SM-N910A, appeared on the mobile site last night, revealing the screen size ahead of an official announcement from the company. The listing also revealed the massive 2,560x1,440 resolution, which will compete directly with LG's recently announced G3 smartphone.

Based on previous rumours, the Galaxy Note 4 is expected to arrive with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 16-megapixel ISOCELL rear camera with optical image stabilisation, and the latest version of Google's Android operating system, as well as the S Pen stylus.

Despite this latest leak, we're still very much in the dark as to the handset's design. Whether Samsung will continue the faux leather look it introduced with the Galaxy Note 3, reuse the dimpled rubberised plastic seen on the Galaxy S5, or reveal an entirely new material remains to be seen. It has also been rumoured that the handset will launch in two versions; a standard model with a flat screen for the masses, and a more expensive curved display model for "niche markets". It's currently unclear whether Samsung will be including the UK in the latter category, as it didn't bring the curved Galaxy Round smartphone to Britain last year.

We'll be at IFA in September, so will be sure to bring you all the news of Samsung's latest phablet when we get it.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Apple finally allows Bitcoin transfer apps on iOS app store

iPhone 4S with Coinpocket app

A renewed interest in digital currency sees Bitcoin transfer apps back on iOS devices

Apple has backtracked on its policy of refusing to accept Bitcoin transfer apps into the iOS app store, signalling a shift in policy that should eventually pave the way to more digital currency apps on iPhones, iPads and iPods. The first app, Coinpocket, has already appeared on iTunes and app stores around the world.

Coinpocket lets users send and recieve Bitcoin funds from any iOS device, the ability to check conversion rates to US dollars, encrypt their wallet keys and includes a QR code scanner for quickly sending funds to another account. It has appeared on the iOS app store before, but Apple removed it before updating its policies. In the interim, developers have been providing basic HTML5 versions of their apps which run in a mobile browser, but now we expect the floodgates to open and a host of new apps appear in the app store.

According to TechCrunch, Apple has also been allowing Bitcoin transfer apps with options to purchase bitcoins directly from the app, which bypasses Apple's 30% share of in-app purchases when users pay for the transactions using Bitcoin.

Although the move is great news for Bitcoin owners, anyone that has invested in other forms of cryptocurrency or digital currency won't be quite so lucky. When Apple updated its store policies, it only mentioned "approved" currencies - meaning it has final say over which ones make the grade. With Bitcoin being the first of its kind, and the largest of all the currently traded cryptocurrencies out there, it's something of a no-brainer for Apple, but smaller names like Dogecoin may need approval before iOS apps appear.

Apple has also said that it will only accept virtual currency transmission apps "as long as they comply with all state and federal laws", although given the fact that many currencies already operate in a legal grey area we'll have to wait for the company to de-list apps before we know what exactly falls foul of the new guidelines.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014

Steamboy project wants to turn Valve’s Steam Machine into a handheld

Steamboy handheld

A handheld version of Valve's upcoming Steam Machine hardware is in the works, although don't it expect to play new releases

Valve's Steam Machine concept, due to arrive in 2015, was imagined as a Linux-based PC/console hybrid that would sit under a TV to bring PC gaming into the living room. Now one company is looking to take those games on the move, introducing the Steamboy handheld concept on the last day of E3.

The Steamboy project team showed off a concept video to cooincide with the world's largest gaming show, revealing a handheld device that looks like a cross between Valve's Steam Controller prototype and a Sony PlayStation Vita. According to The Escapist, the proposed hardware will include a quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, a 32GB memory card for storage and a 5in, 16:9 touchscreen display. That means it should cope with a large number of the games available from the Steam catalogue, although brand new releases are unlikely to run smoothly.

"SteamBoy won't be as powerful as other announced Steam Machines in the same way [the] Nintendo 3DS or PS Vita performance is not comparable to Wii U or PlayStation 4," a Steamboy representative told the gaming site. "However, it will be possible to play the majority of current games in Steam."

Despite not having cutting edge hardware to play the latest games, the Steamboy could feasibly stream gameplay from a more powerful desktop PC using Steam's integrated in-home streaming function - giving it similar abilities to the Nvidia Shield Android-powered handheld.

A teaser video posted to coincide with the launch revealed the device, which has two touch pads, eight action buttons, four triggers and two additional rear buttons, matching the layout found on Valve's own Steam controller.

We're still waiting for further details, and will be particularly interested to learn how big a battery the Steamboy team manages to squeeze inside the handheld. Sony's PS Vita has graphics potential to rival the PlayStation 3 at times, but can only manage around 5-6 hours on a single charge. If the Steamboy handheld is going to play PC games, we would want it to at least last a similar amount of time between charges.

The Steamboy team expects to make more details available in the coming months, but the hardware itself is unlikely to launch until 2015.

News
Published 
17 Jun 2014